As a nature photographer I have always been privileged to reside in a place that has four distinctly different seasons.  There is no bigger job for a nature photographer than telling the story of the changing seasons. 

If I was not a photographer I might find winter to be less than wonderful.  That is the magic of exploring the natural world with a camera.  You learn to appreciate and even look forward to each and every new season.  At times winter brings me that perfect storm.  Pretty much every winter has at least one.  All those branches with a perfect covering of “ice cream”.  Then there is hoar-frost.  Maybe backlit in the morning?  Ice patterns. Best of all around my Wisconsin homeland is the invasion of Rough-legged Hawks, Bald Eagles, Short-eared Owls and the incredible Snowy Owl.

Spring is the busiest time of year for the nature photographer.  Bird migration alone could take up every waking moment.  New plants and flowers.  The first few insects.  Spring’s new green adorning the trees.  Not enough hours in the day or minutes in the hour. Spring is a re-birth for nature and for us.  It is also exhausting. 

Many photographers do not like the heat, humidity and the mosquitos of summer.  I love summer because every type of subject I will ever dream of is here and screaming to have its picture taken.  There is no such thing as a day I cannot make pictures of something interesting.  Summer, like spring should be longer.  Everything must end sometime.

Then comes autumn.  The quiet season.  There is bird migration and still a few new plants and even a new insect or two, but we all know that fall is about color.  Those colors can be riotous but still, to me fall is the quiet season.  Fall is my favorite season.  I live for places and subjects with atmosphere.  Every minute of autumn is filled with atmosphere.  I love the Northwoods of the Upper Midwest in fall.  You can hear a leaf drop for a mile.  The photography in autumn is quiet and thoughtful.  A time to reflect while you are creating imagery.  There is just a touch of sadness mixed with the joy in this season.  We know the storms of winter will surely follow.  Autumn is much to short for me.  There are many different aspects to color change and I want to become fully involved with every part of it.

I do love the early autumn season.  There is still a lot of green, but it is flanked by the reds and golds of fall.  This season provides a great opportunity to compose color.  Composing color and tones is just as important as composing specific subjects.

I have taught many workshops in fall.  I have also worked fall with many other photographers.  The one thing I have never understood is why people do not want to look down in fall.  I find it to be as good of a macro season as is spring and summer.  Autumn up close is an inspiring sight.  Small intimate landscapes are everywhere during this seasonas well as macros.  Note the 3D effect of red on green in these images.  I use this all through the fall season.  Warm colors such as red, yellow and orange visually advance within a 2D picture.  Cool colors such as blue and green recede.  That separation allows for an eye-popping image.  Sunny day images with warm colored trees also works well in producing this very natural result.  I do use this on sunny days but much prefer to work most of autumn in the low contrast, heavily saturated light of cloudy days.

I love being led into a scene.  Fall lends itself to this classic compositional ploy at least as well as the other seasons.

Certainly the big picture or the grand landscape is what most people are after in autumn.  My philosophy is to compose these pictures much the same as I would  any time of the year.  Remember the rules of comp but always be willing the break them. The top image is in the heart of Wisconsin’s Chequamegan National Forest.  The lake carries the creative name of Lake Three.  I camped on the shores of Lake Three the night before I made this image.  It was just me and the lake.  Quiet and serene.  I felt like I was the only person in the entire forest. 

Bond Falls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

When I am out creating fall landscapes and macros I am still looking for more.  In particular objects and autumn colors that can be brought together.  Also anything that can be abstracted.  Just color or pattern or texture.  The fall rock  below was made near the above mentioned Bond Falls, and the rippled abstract below was made in a national forest.  I spotted the colors and ripples in a small creek as I was driving down a remote fire lane.

While the eastern half of North America is indeed spectacular during this season, those of you who live out west know that you have plenty to brag about as well.  Anyone who has been in the Colorado Rockies on a sunny day in fall with all of the aspen trees in full color know what I mean.  Blend those golden aspens with dark green pine trees and snow-capped peaks and wow!  I have chosen some more subtle images.  The top photo of fall aspen and a mountain was made along the scenic Chief Joseph ByWay of western Wyoming.  Our second picture of Western Cottonwoods and hills was made in western North Dakota in Theodore Roosevelt N.P.

While I begin my fall photography with the first blush of color, I do not finish until long after the trees are void of any leaves.  My favorite happening is to find one last tree refusing to “give it up” and lose it’s leaves.  A different version of the image below has been featured in a print entitled “Tenacity….Autumns Last Stand”   A tree as stubborn as the photographer that took her picture.  The contrast of the bare naked trees and the one tough tree willing to try to take its coat into winter, is both a figurative and literal thing.  The literal part will determine how you make your compositional decisions.  The image was made right here in Southeastern Wisconsin.

As you head out with your cameras this fall, just remember to treat the autumn season with love and respect and it will reward you with inspiring images.

God Bless,

Wayne